by Andria Falk
[This article was originally published by Kindred Spirit, January / February 2010]. 

We are preoccupied by whether we eat healthily, we think about whether we drink enough – or too much – and yet our breathing receives relatively little attention. We are often unaware that breathing is the most powerful tool we have available to both our well-being and self-healing. Most people are unaware that 70% of the toxins in our bodies are eliminated through our breathing and that a high intake of oxygen is crucial to keeping our cells and organs healthy. Neither are we always aware of how good breathing contributes to our emotional and spiritual well-being. 

This is no doubt ancient knowledge that we have lost, for breathing is embedded in our language: such every-day expressions as ‘don’t hold your breath’, and ‘save your breath’ no longer have an obvious link to actual breathing. This knowledge is still current in Eastern cultures: breathing is an important part of Yoga, Tai Chi and Kung Fu, for example. In China there are numerous breathing patterns harnessed for different healing purposes. 

Here in the West, breathing as a healing tool was rediscovered by the early rebirthers in the 1970s. They found that by breathing in a connected way, linking the in breath to the out breath, you could clear the energetic and emotional blocks in your body – even clearing the memory of your birth trauma. This was taken up and refined, giving birth to Holotropic BreathingTM and VivationTM and a host of other modalities, including Transformational Breathing.TM 

While drawing on these traditions, Transformational Breathing incorporates new healing and medical insights; its success is witnessed by the fact that it is the fastest-growing breath technique worldwide; it is now practised in over 25 countries, and is sometimes available on health insurance. Here in the UK, there is a new organisation, the Transformational Breathing Foundation UK (TBF-UK) that works to maintain good practice and is seeking affiliation to the Institute of Complementary and Natural Medicine, as well as pursuing research possibilities. 

So what makes Transformational Breathing unique? Firstly, it helps you to reconnect to your natural breathing pattern. As we get older, our breathing shuts down, often where we have held our breath when faced with a need to protect ourselves from fear or anxiety, or due to a habitual ‘fight or flight’ response to stress. Everyone has a unique pattern of breathing and Transformational Breathing facilitators are trained to analyse how a person’s breathing has become shut down. They then press on appropriate points during the breathing session, using a unique system of ‘body mapping’ points (similar to acupressure). By learning to engage your diaphragm and by clearing the blocked energy in your respiratory system, you are able to breathe much more 

effectively. Sound is also used to clear blocked energy, often the heart-sound ‘a-a-a- ah’, as well as arm and leg movements. 1 

Transformational Breathing is a spiritual healing tool. It uses the Universal Spiritual Energy and once you are fully grounded in the lower chakras, it enables the opening of the higher chakras. Many people experience a strong and deepening sense of spiritual well-being during the latter part of a session, as well as helpful insights. Facilitators use invocations and affirmations to harness the spiritual energy and focus the outcome of a session. 

An increasing number of very positive testimonials acknowledge the benefits of Transformational Breathing. ‘More relaxed...’ ‘energised...’ ‘lighter...’ ‘rejuvenated...’ ‘energetic...’ ‘spontaneous...’ are just some of the ways that people have described their experience of sessions.2 One psychotherapist has likened the benefit from one session to two years of psychotherapy. While Transformational Breath facilitators make no claims to cure illnesses, facilitators are seeing impressive results with many illnesses where lack of oxygen is a factor, including ME, hypothyroidism, heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure, asthma and depression. 

Transformational Breathing can be undertaken in one-to-one or group sessions. After a few facilitated sessions, you can do self-sessions. You will have a profound healing tool you can draw on for the rest of your life. 

[ Andria Falk is a Birmingham-based Transformational Breathing Co-Trainer / Facilitator and Secretary of TBF-UK. She trained with Judith Kravitz, the co-creator of Transformational Breathing
web: www.transformationalbreath.co.uk
email: [email protected] ] 

References 

1. Breathe Deep, Laugh Loudly, by Judith Kravitz, Free Breath Press, 2007. 2. www.transformationalbreath.co.uk